News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Hotter and drier summers seem to be the trend in climate changes locally as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released the new U.S. Climate Normals for 1991-2020. The NOAA is part of the Department of Commerce and updates the climate normals every 10 years using a 30-year range of data. Comparing the 1991-2020 data to the previous 1981-2010 data shows that the Spokane area, like much of the western U.S., is experiencing hotter and drier summers. Including here. "Vegetation drie...
The Grand Coulee Library has a new librarian, Catherine Matthews, and she's excited to meet you. Matthews moved to Electric City by way of Whidbey Island and started work at the library on May 18. Speaking with The Star by phone, Matthews explained her love of books and libraries. She said that she always went to her local public library as she was growing up and got exposed to different viewpoints and opinions. "I read a lot," she said. "I read very widely, across genres and lots of different...
Voters will decide on about 30 positions up for election in the 2021 elections for local town councils, school boards, and more. The primary elections will take place in August, while the general election will take place in November. Grand Coulee Three seats on the Grand Coulee City Council are up for reelection this year, all to four-year terms. Three candidates have filed their intentions to seek Council Position #1, currently held by Tammara Byers who is not running for reelection. The candidates who have filed are: Ben Hughes, Tracey...
Social media has become such a big part of modern life, to the point that now the Grand Coulee Dam School District has an employee policy about it. The district’s board of directors approved a social media policy during their May 24 meeting. Superintendent Paul Turner explained to The Star that the policy isn’t required by the state but rather “is preemptive” and “also initiated because of some previous issues.” Turner declined to elaborate on the nature of those previous issues. “Without a policy, there is no guidance to stay consistent wh...
The City of Grand Coulee would like a couple of questions addressed before extending their B Street closure agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. One end of B Street has been blocked off near the bureau’s fire station construction site since 2017, and numerous delays in that construction project have kept the road closed. B Street connects to SR-155 through the bureau-owned Industrial Road, with the area between B Street and SR-155 being closed off. At their May 18 council meeting, the council discussed wanting emergency access t...
The Lady Raiders basketball team won two games overwhelmingly, and another game by just one point to start their season/ In Coulee Dam May 25, the Lady Raiders led 56-12 at halftime against Oroville, kept Oroville scoreless in the third quarter to lead 73-12, then won the game with an 82-26 final score. On the road May 26 against Liberty Bell, LR won by just one point with a final of 52-51. Then the Lady Raiders annihilated Wahluke 53-6 in a May 28 road game. LR was scheduled to play Tonasket...
Lake Roosevelt High School’s Class of 2021 graduation is slated for June 12 on the football field in Coulee Dam, with more details still being developed. “Seniors voted to have graduation outdoors on the football field and so we are moving forward with developing plans,” Principal Kirk Marshlain wrote in his report to the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors for their May 24 meeting. “This will allow for graduates to have more guests present for the ceremony. More details to come as we finalize the plans.” During the meeting,...
Located along SR-174, Grand Coulee City Park, also known as Shane Proctor Park, has experienced incidents of vandalism this spring and the mayor would like citizens to keep an eye out for that type of destructive behavior and report it. This spring, someone smashed the seats of the teeter-totters in the park, and in a separate incident someone crammed the toilet full of toilet paper, a plastic jug, and other garbage. “It’s just a shame,” Mayor Paul Townsend told The Star on Tuesday. “I don’t even know what’s wrong with people. It makes me si...
Vroom vroom! You can see a variety of cars or show off your own at a car show in Grand Coulee on June 19 in a car show being held on Main Street. The Diversity Divine Auto Show, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be held by Coulee Medical Center’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sam Hsieh through his organization The Divine Appeal. “The MO at The Divine Appeal has always been breaking boundaries and challenging the status quo,” a description for the show reads online. “One group that carries this loud and proud is no other than our car scene enthusi...
The demolition of a condemned building on Spokane Way that once belonged to a local inventor seems likely to happen this summer after about three years of delays. The Grand Coulee City Council approved a bid for the demolition of the “Vlachos” building at their May 18 meeting, as well as for an asbestos survey to be conducted prior to the demolition. The building, once belonging to inventor and mechanic Constantinos Vlachos, has been boarded up and abandoned for years. In 2018, the Coulee Pioneer Museum recovered some items from the premises, i...
Five more people have died from COVID-19 in Grant County, including the county's first death of someone in their 20s. The deaths, announced in a May 18 press release from Grant County Health District, include: two Moses Lake women in their 60s, a Soap Lake man in his 50s, and two Moses Lake men - one in his 80s and the other in his 20s. The deaths bring Grant County's total Covid death count to 125. "COVID-19 continues to kill people from our community," Grant County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny said. "These reported deaths are not...
Campgrounds in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, including Spring Canyon, have increased their fees. The LRNRA says camp fees are now $23 a night, up from $19, and that all vehicle-accessible campgrounds are now reservation only. Reservations must be made at recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777, with LRNRA recommending making reservations ahead of time from home because cell phone service can be spotty along Lake Roosevelt. Boat-in campgrounds and shoreline camping are still available on a first-come, first-served basis. The...
Lady Raiders finish with no-hitters and home runs The Lady Raiders softball team dominated this past week in the final five games of the season to finish with a 9-3 win-loss record. In Oroville May 11, the Lady Raiders shut out the Lady Hornets 16-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. Emma Marchand pitched a no-hitter and seven strikeouts. "Marchand was too much on the mound for the young team in Oroville," Head Coach Jaci Gross said. Offensively, Halle Albert and Sawyer Steffens each hit a hom...
With poll and absentee votes both now certified, twenty-six candidates have been narrowed down to 14 in the primary for seven seats on the Colville Business Council, with only one incumbent knocked out of the running. There are seven out of 14 total positions up for election to the Colville Business Council, the governing body of the Colville Tribes. Primary polls opened May 8, with poll votes certified on May 10, and absentee votes were certified May 13. The top two candidates in each race will move on to the general election June 19 with...
Sara Kennedy will be Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School's new principal starting with the 2021-22 school year. Kennedy, who has worked as the school's dean of students since 2019, was approved as the new principal at the May 10 Grand Coulee Dam School District board meeting. After 40 minutes of the board being in executive session, and prior to the board's approval of Kennedy, Superintendent Paul Turner said, "I wholeheartedly recommend Sara Kennedy to take over the position. She's done...
Although there will be no tours of the Grand Coulee Dam this year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is working on a plan for the return of the Laser Light Show and for opening its visitor center. USBR Public Affairs Specialist for the Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region Erika A. Lopez told The Star that tours will not be conducted this year at Grand Coulee Dam “because of CDC–recommended COVID-19 restrictions.” “Visitors will be unable to safely maintain social distancing of six feet on the tour buses and dam elevator,” she said. Lopez also said...
During a Grant County Leadership ZOOM meeting May 5, people from various organizations discussed how to market COVID-19 vaccines more effectively. Misty Aguilar, public information officer for the Grant County Health District, said that Grant County’s numbers continue to increase. “We get several cases every day,” she said. “The majority of the cases are coming from ages 19-40.” She said that if Gov. Jay Inslee hadn’t paused the phases of the state’s Covid recovery plan, Grant County would have been rolled back to a more restrictive p...
You may learn a thing or two about local history if you pick up a copy of a new book titled "Dry Falls and Sun Lakes" from Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, which includes early and rare photos of that area. Local man John "Jay" M. Kemble compiled the book following his 2020 publication titled "Steamboat Rock" in the same Images of America series. "I hope I am presenting several stories that tie together to create a larger whole," he said about "Dry Falls and Sun Lakes," which...
Voters will decide on about 30 positions up for election in the 2021 elections for local town councils, school boards, and more. Candidate filings of intent to run for these offices are open from May 17-21. Grand Coulee Three seats on the Grand Coulee City Council are up for reelection this year, all to four-year terms. At their Jan. 19 council meeting, it was announced that three council members’ terms expire on Dec. 31 and are up for reelection in November: Council Position #1, currently held by Tammara Byers; Council Position #2, c...
Local counties remain in Phase 3 of Washington's COVID-19 recovery plan, which means that the local Colorama Festival with its variety of activities in the area can go on as planned despite Grant County, for one, not meeting the requirements to stay in Phase 3. Grant County's incidence rate is 50 percent higher than current guidelines calling for it to be rolled back to Phase 2. "This is our wakeup call," GCHD Administrator Theresa Adkinson said in a statement Tuesday after Gov. Jay Inslee...
Lake Roosevelt High School intends to hold a high school prom this month to give its students a sense of normalcy. “We believe as a district that students need a sense of normal and that traditional events should continue during this pandemic,” Superintendent Paul Turner said in a statement to The Star. “We understand that this event will look different from years past but are adapting to the current guidelines.” “Other schools in our area have opted to let parents host prom,” the statement continues. “If we host Prom as a district, we have mor...
The city of Grand Coulee is considering installing electronic speed limit signs on both ends of the city limits along SR-174 and paying for it with money brought in from a public safety tax. The signs would potentially be placed near East Heights, and the hospital and canal area. In both directions, while approaching town, the speed limit changes from 60 miles per hour to 35 mph. The public safety tax was started as a result of Grant County's Proposition 1, which passed in 2019. The proposition...
You may be able to spot a Grand Coulee Police car more easily if the department gets new badging for their cars. The topic of "rebadging" eight Grand Coulee Police patrol cars was discussed at Grand Coulee's March 16 council meeting. "Apparently, people think the wave is weird," Mayor Paul Townsend said about the current logo that is on the side doors of the police cars, a version of the city's logo which shows a drawing of the Grand Coulee Dam with a wave flowing from it. City Clerk Lorna...
Lady Raiders win three of four close games The Lady Raiders fastpitch team lost a close one to Omak before winning both games of a double header with Almira-Coulee-Hartline last week. LR led Omak up until the seventh inning April 27 when "Omak's bats came alive and our defense did not respond," according to Head Coach Jaci Gross. LR lost the game 6-5. "Their pitcher garnered 17 strikeouts, which didn't help our cause," Gross said. LR offensive highlights include Emma Marchand going 3-4 at the pl...
Community members aren't happy with library-related decisions made at the administrative level that have affected the local library and that have led to the resignation of branch librarian Lisa Moore. The topic was brought up at Grand Coulee's April 20 council meeting, where the council discussed workers at the library being required to "have some kind of degree," a requirement Councilmember Alan Cain called "elitism B.S." City Clerk Lorna Pearce said that a representative from the North...